Are the Northern Lights dangerous? - Fabio Pacucci
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TEDEd Animation
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In September 1859, miners following the Colorado gold rush woke up to another sunny day. Or so they thought. To their surprise, they soon discovered it was actually 1am and the sky wasn’t lit by the sun, but rather by brilliant drapes of light. The blazing glow was a solar storm— the largest in recorded history. So what exactly is a solar storm? Fabio Paccuci explains this astrophysical phenomena.
Magnetic field lines close to sunspots are very twisted, and when stretched too far they snap back, releasing a large amount of energy, which can create a coronal mass ejection. What other natural phenomena does this process remind you of and why?
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Fabio Pacucci
- Director Nick Hilditch
- Narrator Jack Cutmore-Scott
- Music Bob Bradley, Audio Network
- Sound Designer Nick Hilditch
- Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
- Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
- Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
- Editorial Producer Dan Kwartler
- Script Editor Alex Gendler
